Cause crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “Cause” are CASE, SUIT or BACK, with 4 letters. Below are 112 answers from 3 to 13 letters, best match first in each length, then what each top answer means and how to tell them apart.

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The best answers, explained

HIT 3 letters · verb

cause to move by striking “hit a ball”

CASE 4 letters · noun

a comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy

DRIVE 5 letters · noun

a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end “the team was ready for a drive toward the pennant”

REASON 6 letters · noun

a justification for something existing or happening “they had good reason to rejoice”

GROUNDS 7 letters · noun

a justification for something existing or happening

CAMPAIGN 8 letters · noun

a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end “he supported populist campaigns”

STIMULATE 9 letters · verb

cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner

TRANSITION 10 letters · verb

cause to convert or undergo a transition “the company had to transition the old practices to modern technology”

INTERCHANGE 11 letters · verb

cause to change places “interchange this screw for one of a smaller size”

DISINTEGRATE 12 letters · verb

cause to undergo fission or lose particles

INCONVENIENCE 13 letters · verb

to cause inconvenience or discomfort to

Telling them apart

With 4 squares, CASE, SUIT, BACK, WORK, DOWN and PLAY all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: C → CASE · S → SUIT · B → BACK · W → WORK · D → DOWN · P → PLAY. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 5 squares, DRIVE, STILL, START, CLOSE, BREAK and SOUND all fit. The fourth letter tells them all apart: V → DRIVE · L → STILL · R → START · S → CLOSE · A → BREAK · N → SOUND. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 3 squares, HIT, ACT, CUT, EAT, ICE and POP all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: H → HIT · A → ACT · C → CUT · E → EAT · I → ICE · P → POP. Fill in that crossing answer first.

Other forms of this clue

Clues often use another form of the word, and the answer then takes the same form: “caused” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “cause” means

• noun: events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something (“they are trying to determine the cause of the crash”)
• noun: a justification for something existing or happening (“he had no cause to complain”)
• noun: a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end (“they worked in the cause of world peace”)
• noun: any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results

A clue usually points at one of these senses, so the right answer is the one that matches the sense the puzzle means: check it against the crossing words.

About these answers

We match the clue against our own thesaurus and dictionary (Open English WordNet): words that mean the same as CAUSE, and words whose definition is CAUSE. We don't copy answers from newspaper puzzles, so a clue that leans on trivia or wordplay may need the crossing letters instead.